2013/12/23

2013/12/13

There are three very important bridges that connect Brooklyn and lower
Manhattan. You can remember them with the acronym, BMW (Brooklyn Bridge,
Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge). Each bridge is over a mile
long and features both pedestrian and vehicle cross-ways. This means you
can drive or walk across each bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest
bridge in New York City and is in the front in this picture. Behind it
is the Manhattan Bridge, and the Williamsburg Bridge is further behind.

This is Madison Square Park. It is home to some beautiful fields of
grass and great views of the Empire State Building, one of the famous
landmarks of the United States. Unlike in France, people are allowed to
sit on the grass in almost every park! Madison Square Park also is home
to the first Shake Shack, a delicious burger and milkshake stand.

The Freedom Tower is now completed. I took this picture while it was
still being built. It is now the tallest building in the United States,
beating out the Chicago skyscraper known as the Sears Tower. Because the
Freedom Tower's spire is a permanent part of the architecture and the
Sears Tower only has a point, the Freedom Tower is considered taller.

This picture is of Brooklyn. Taken from the Williamsburg Bridge this
summer, Brooklyn is currently one of the most fashionable places to live
in the world! It is filled with young artsy people with dreams of
making it big. This bohemia is also home to many different immigrant
communities, such as the Polish, the Irish, the Italian, the Hasidim,
and many more. I live about 5 blocks away from the entrance to this
bridge, which spans about 1.2 miles and is very steep.

This is a neighborhood in Brooklyn called Williamsburg. It is known for
its hipster population, but is also the hometown of Jay-Z. Featured in
this picture is the J train. Jay-Z gets his name from the J and Z trains
that run through his old neighborhood. In the distance is Peter Luger
Steakhouse, supposedly one of the best steakhouses in the world. You can
see it right in front of the Williamsburg Bridge.

This is a picture
of Park Slope, Brooklyn. A traditionally Italian and Middle-Eastern
neighborhood, Park Slope has become a very wealthy area in Brooklyn. It
is home to Prospect Park, the second-largest park in New York City.
Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect who built Central Park, built
Prospect Park after and corrected all the mistakes he made in Central
Park. Prospect Park is Central Park 2.0! There are many
Victorian-influenced buildings in this neighborhood. There are also
bigger streets. In Brooklyn, residents are more likely to have a car
than in Manhattan.

This is Union
Square, a neighborhood in Manhattan. The park in the center of the
square was known for being extremely dangerous in the 1970s and the
1980's. Now it is one of the most posh areas in the city! The park is a
meeting point for almost every teenager in New York City. "You want to
meet at noon at 'Union?" a teenager might ask a friend.

Union Square also has a huge farmer's market! Here is a mini-pumpkin I bought there.

This
is the view of Manhattan's skyline from my neighborhood in Brooklyn.
It's in a park called East River State Park on the waterfront in
Williamsburg Brooklyn.